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I was asked awhile back what I thought a commitment to Christ entails.
I think, first, a commitment to Christ must be passionate.
I think of a parable Christ told in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 13:
“God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidently found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic – what a find! – and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.
Or, God’s kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.”
Can you imagine? A treasure so worthy, so rich, so precious, so magnificent, that you would be willing to sell everything for it. Your house, your car, your clothes – give up everything for the sake of having it.
That is a passionate pursuit of something more wonderful than words can imagine.
Christ is that treasure, so worthy and so deserving that we are called to give up our all – our everything – for His name’s sake.
We are told in the Gospel of Luke that after two individuals meet with Christ on the road and He explains the Scriptures to them, their hearts, “burned within them.” (Luke 24:32)
In all we do, may our pursuit of Christ be passionate; may our hearts burn within us as we seek Him.
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Does this scenario sound strangely familiar? You’ve just spent three hours preparing the best lesson ever: you did an in-depth exegetical analysis of the text, worked to find the root Greek words and all applicable uses in Classical literature, you cross-referenced every verse to ensure your attached bibliography and concordance for the lesson were at least five pages long, and you developed a Powerpoint presentation that would rival the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. And what happened? Your youth got glossy-eyed, were unresponsive, and the following week were unable to remember a single syllable of what you said.
For the first year and a half or so that I was involved in youth ministry, this was my modus operandi: I spent hours preparing my lesson each week, only to leave church every Wednesday evening feeling frustrated, dejected, and disheartened. Why didn’t my kids “get it?” What was wrong? Wasn’t I “good enough?”
When I shared my feelings with my pastor, he always told me the same thing: “Youth ministry is 99% relational.” But that didn’t make sense to me: relationships pale in comparison to the advantage of learning deep, propositional truths about Jesus Christ, right? Youth group isn’t about game time or “hanging out,” is it? My attitude spiraled out of control as I grew increasingly discouraged with each passing week. And as my attitude suffered, so did the culture of our youth ministry program.
But slowly, in brokenness and prayer the Lord dealt with my heart, and something began to change: I began to let go a little bit. Through His grace I began to give space for each Wednesday night take a life of its own. Rather than coming to church with the goal of getting to the devotional time because that had to be the focus of the evening, I relaxed. I began to enjoy hanging out with the youth, enjoying playing games and talking and just being there with them. We would get to devotions, but what was the big deal if we only had 20 minutes instead of 35?
I stopped caring so much about what I thought youth ministry “should be” or “had to be” or “had to include” and started simply loving the youth.
When looking at the bigger picture, my attitude and demeanor spoke louder and more clearly than I ever could during devotions. Having the youth over to our house, caring about what goes on during their day, what issues they face, “texting” and “facebooking” them to be aware of what it is like as a teenager in America today; these all have eternal value as I build relationships with my youth.
I could most certainly spend 40 minutes one Wednesday evening studying the value of Matthew 6:33 as a life principle (But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you), but how much more value if the youth are able to witness that principle being lived out in my life?
What good is it if I teach for half an hour on Jeremiah 29:11 (“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”) if I don’t pray with and for my youth to know the reality of the struggles they face?
Teaching our students the Word of God and His truth is incredibly important, but why do an exegetical study of Psalm 119 when I can invite youth into my life and allow them to see the high priority I place on spending time studying God’s truth contained within His Word?
Please don’t get me wrong: I am in no way advocating not teaching our youth. I am simply saying that – as someone who is bent toward deep thought and intense study – a seminary-level Bible study isn’t what high school students need on a Wednesday night. Intently studying the Word of God doesn’t get us very far without the wisdom and discernment to appropriately implement that study in a real, relevant, tangible, and practical way.
Love your youth, pray for them, and invest in them relationally, and the opportunity to study deeply with them will come.
Communication. It is arguably the most important aspect of relationships, and yet it is often a source of great tension. Why? Because people have a difficult time communicating effectively. And everybody – from preachers to motivational speakers to movie stars to that guy you pass on the street – everybody wants to communicate.
Thankfully, I had the opportunity to glean some insight from one of the world’s foremost leaders in leadership, communication, and motivation. Through the graces of the Thomas Nelson Bloggers Book Review Program, I recently had the privilege of reading Everyone Communicates, Few Connect By John C. Maxwell.
Image Courtesy of booksneeze.com
Asserting that it is not just with words that we must communicate, but with actions, attitudes, intentions, and energy, Maxwell shows there is more to communicating than simply speaking and listening. We must endeavor to form relationships and seek to truly communicate effectively in the context of these relationships.
Maxwell defines connecting as: “the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them.” Going beyond the cliché statement that we all know – communication is only 7% verbal – Maxwell uncovers every nuance imaginable for the sake of ensuring that clear communication is possible.
Everyone Communicates is broken down into two parts, Connecting Principles and Connecting Practices. In doing so Maxwell has not only provided the underlying foundation for effective connecting that leads to communication, but outlined practical and tangible steps to implement in relationships requiring more intentional communication.
Thankfully, Maxwell relates that effective communication through connection is more a skill than a natural talent, meaning there is hope for even the most awkward of us. He shares how communication doesn’t just take place in the midst of one conversation, but in the context of intentional relationships that have connected on a deeper level than the conversation at hand.
Maxwell doesn’t just prepare the reader for clear communication, but effective communication that allows for the individual not just to be heard in communication, but felt.
Chock full of great insights and practical advice, John C. Maxwell’s Everyone Communicates, Few Connect is a great read that I would recommend everybody go through at least once. I am not usually one to be so high on other “motivational” or “self-help” books that this could be qualified as, but I am truly impressed at the amount of insight contained within this volume. From work to family to church to friends, this book will enhance your ability to communicate clearly and effectively in the context of strong, healthy relationships.
Ah, the proverbial square peg in the round hole. Perhaps no other analogy has gotten more mileage than this one when describing the fit that just quite wasn’t ideal – the fit that was too snug for everybody’s’ comfort.
In ministry I often find myself describing my situation as just that, a square peg in a round hole.
“My gifting isn’t suited for this ministry”
“I’m not called to this”
“My gifts would be better suited elsewhere”
But I wonder how often these are just excuses, things we think or say to alleviate fear and insecurity when (yes, that is a when, not an if) we fail.
Someone once told me that the worst preachers are the most gifted public speakers. Why? Because they tend to rely on their own natural talent over and above the grace of God. They tend to under-prepare, under-perform, and under-pray (sorry, I know I was reaching with that last one) in the course of fulfilling their vocation.
Conversely, some of the best preachers I have known are men who are not naturally outgoing or especially gifted public speakers, but they are aware of their desperate need for the grace and truth of Jesus Christ to flow in and through them at all times to have any chance of a God-honoring and God-glorifying ministry.
With that being said, what is the big deal about being a square peg in a round hole? As far as I can figure, that is the best thing for me. Failure and the resulting brokenness aren’t things to avoid or be afraid of, they are the times when we are drawn nearest to God as we recognize the sinfulness of our human nature and our daily need for Christ resurrected and alive inside of us.
Being a square peg in a round hole is more likely than not the norm, the general and God-intended means of our ministry. Sure, some things here and there will match up, and more often than not we will be gifted in the areas to which we are called. But I can almost guarantee things will never be a 100% match, because if they were, we would rely on our own natural ability in these areas and not the grace of God.
Praise the Lord, the creator of His servants who are eternally square pegs in round holes, for His glory.
1 Thessalonians 1:3 can be translated various ways:
NASB: constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ and of our God and Father
NIV: We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
ESV: remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
What is most striking to me when I read this passage in one translation, and again when I compare several different translations, is the similarity in the words used. Work, labor, endurance, steadfastness, hope, inspired…it seems to me that Paul had something very important to say, something that isn’t quite captured by the English rendering.
When we break down the different words, we find the following:
Work is the word ergon, and denotes something by which an individual is occupied, something that takes up all their time and energy.
Faith is the word pistis, and carries with it the idea of faith, confidence, conviction, commitment, trust, fidelity, and guarantee. It is derived from peithomai (be persuaded, have confidence, obey).
Labor is kopos, and Paul envisions one who beats his breast with grief and sorrow when he uses this word, a beating of the breast which leads to intense labor.
Love is agape, agape being the highest form of the words used for love in the NT, meaning God’s love, love with deep respect, love according to value, love expressed in good will or deeds, love that manifests itself and puts itself on display; literally demonstration of love.
Steadfastness/endurance is hypomone, meaning endurance, from hypomeno, meaning to endure, to wait expectantly. The connotation is of someone who is not swayed from his purposes by even the most severe trials or sufferings. Those reading this in Paul’s time would envision this endurance as the most potent of all virtues, the vigor and perseverance of an Olympic athlete.
Hope here is elpis, referring to hope inspired by Jesus Christ, a confident, expectant, and joyful hope of salvation. This spiritual hope is contrasted with human hope, which is the uncertain or anguished longing for a desired good.
When we dissect Paul’s words, we read 1 Thess 1:3 slightly differently:
remembering all your time and energy occupied by obedient works of commitment, your passionate and intense labor of love that is not merely spoken, but demonstrated, and your confident and expectant hope in Jesus Christ, of which you are certain and for whom you endure all things.
We all know them; they are the famous passages. The passages everybody knows by heart and the passages every preacher uses when he gets preacher’s-block.
“Love the Lord your God…..”
“Be Holy because I am Holy…..”
“Love your neighbor…..”
And – invariably – some variation of, “The Kingdom of God/Heaven is like…..”
We all have passages we turn to first, passages we think embody the Gospel or our response to it, passages we use in counseling on a regular basis, passages we use in preaching and passages we think are foundational to the an understanding of the Kingdom (incidentally, my passage is Matthew 6:33).
Well, amongst these is Matthew 4: 18-22.
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20At once they left their nets and followed him. 21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
And more than knowing these (in)famous passages, we all know the standard interpretation of them.
If I had a dime for every time I heard a sermon encouraging us to embrace the reckless faith of the disciples who left their jobs as fishermen to follow Christ, I wouldn’t be paying off my wife’s student loans until the day I died (I’m pretty sure I would have to pay them back even if my wife died….).
So, far be it from me to stray from the pack and suggest an alternative reading; for indeed it is true we all should look to the aforementioned reckless faith of the disciples.
They did leave all they had ever known for the sake of following Christ, counting all things as loss for the sake of Jesus.
But let us not become beleaguered by whimsical or fantastic ideas that the disciples lived some fairytale life. They fished because they had no choice: it was their family business and they couldn’t make it anywhere else. They woke up early, went to bed late, and probably smelled like week-old sushi.
I imagine they were restless and discontent with their lives, and when Christ came along offering a chance at something bigger, they jumped on the bandwagon faster Los Angeles when the Dodgers make the playoffs.
Perhaps they had heard rumors and rumblings of this man baptized by John , perhaps they could connect the dots and thought perhaps this man just actually be the messiah, come to bring in political stability and throw off the heavy-handed Roman government, perhaps they saw how much they had to gain should this man turn out to truly be the messiah.
Me? What do I see in this passage?
I see the Son of God walking along the beach, offering purpose, meaning, and eternal life.
And I see four men – two sets of brothers – sick and tired of their seemingly dead-end lives, sick and tired of the same daily routines, sick and tired of looking for purpose and meaning in life. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into, but they left all they had and followed Christ.
Where does life find you today? Sick? Tired? Empty, purpose-less, and meaningless?
Look at your life, and you will see the Son of God offering to turn your life upside down.
Trust Him. He wants what is best for you – Himself.
Don’t stop at desiring God halfheartedly.
Leave everything behind, detach your heart from all this world offers, and follow Christ.
He doesn’t promise a better job, a faster car, or a bigger house.
But He does promise Himself, and with Him your life will never be the same again.
We’ve recently discussed Paul’s time in Damascus after he met Christ (found here).
And we know from Gal 1: 17-18 that after being accepted as a genuine apostle, Paul spent three years alone in Arabia.
How amazing and how wonderful to picture the uninhibited devotion Paul exhibited in the early years of his ministry? He knew where he had come from and he must have had some inkling of the life God would lay out before him. In need of strength, wisdom, and teaching, Paul sought God in the silence and the stillness.
He knew the words of God to Moses in Exodus 4: 11-12,
“11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
And in knowing these words, he was desperate to seek God, to know Him, and to have his heart and mind filled by the truth and wisdom God was offering. Paul knew he needed God’s words, and so he pursued that goal no matter the cost.
And wouldn’t we all benefit from three days (not to mention three years) of solitary confinement with only the Lord for company?
That we all could take time from our life to be still and know that He is God. (Psalm 46:10).
Sunday August 16th I had the opportunity to preach at may home church.
It was an awesome, terrifying, exciting, and humbling experience.
As a youth pastor, I am constantly trying to help my kids avoid the camp high, also known as the mountaintop experience.
Often as Christians we go through a time where God feels so real and close and tangible that we could go to the ends of the earth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
However, something happens – we come home from camp or things get tough at work and that mountaintop experience fades. We return to the doldrums of life and, though in reality God hasn’t become any less real or close, our experience of Him changes and He feels distant.
Every summer I take my kids to camp and witness them realizing the scope of their full potential in Christ, only to see them come back home to their families, their friends, and their routines.
One reason for this, I surmise, is the involvement of emotions. While emotions are a very good thing, we tend to get so caught up in our emotional highs and lows that nothing concrete ever really takes route in our soul.
Jonathan Edwards is helpful here:
Affection is a word, that, in its ordinary signification, seems to be something more extensive than passion, being used for all vigorous lively acting of the will or inclination; but passion is used for those that are more sudden, and whose affects on the animal spirits are more violent, the mind being more overpowered, and less in its own command….Holy affections are not heat without light; but evermore arise from some information of the understanding, some spiritual instruction that the mind receives, some light or actual knowledge.
– A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections
According to Edwards, to have a passion is to have an emotionally driven desire, while an affection is much more calculated and deep-seated in one’s being.
Now, be very clear: I am not arguing for an emotion-less and lackluster life of faith and Godly obedience; quite the obvious actually.
I am arguing for the most vibrant and active life of faith this cursed body of death is capable of expressing.
However, I would argue that this life of faith cannot come and go with the ebb and flow of our inconsistent and fickle flesh.
Our faith cannot be grounded in emotions and irrational feelings, for such is the path to disaster.
Instead, our faith must take root in every inch of our existence through the grace of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
To rely on our own strength is to ensure disaster.
Instead, be so consumed with the glory of God that His Spirit pervades every inch of our being – our heart, soul, spirit, mind, strength, will (dichotomotists and trichotomists be damned, that isn’t what I am talking about) – such that the entirety of our human existence responds to the grace of God in a concerted act of whole-life worship that is both affectionate and passionate.
To live affectionately for God is the cure to the camp high, the mountain top experience, the believer’s life that ebbs and flows and is tossed about like a hapless dingy in the midst of a great ocean swell.
Seek foundation in Christ, deep-seated foundation with your whole being.
Allow your emotions to be carried along by the entirety of your being instead of allowing your entire person to be held captive by your fallible emotional tendencies.
We read in Acts 5: 12-16 of the increasing ministry of the early Apostolic church
12At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. 13But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. 14And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, 15to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. 16Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.
Sandwiched between the account of Ananias & Sapphira and the apostles’ run-in with the Sadducees, Luke subtlety uses a short paragraph to communicate a great reality concerning the early church.
From this passage we learn that the apostles were doing many signs and wonders, including healing in the name of Jesus Christ.
We first find some who were indecisive, non-committal and afraid to throw their allegiance to the followers of the son of the living God; woe are those who live in such indecision and delay the renewal of their heart!
But, we find others who believed, and their numbers were added daily to those who left indecision behind and had their hearts transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ.
The commotion caused by the miracles and the conversions led some to even carry their sick to the streets on their beds, that as Peter walked by, even his shadow might be cast on them and they would be healed (we see a similar reverence for physical presence when the woman touched the corner of Christ’s garment).
Now lest we be quick to attribute this power to Peter himself, let us see what the passage is truly saying.
The phrase in verse 15, “when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them,” would be a very familiar phrase. The Greek word used is episkiazo, and it was used several other times in the Gospels; each time denoting the overshadowing presence of the Lord Almighty.
We find it in Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 1:35 and Luke 9:34, each time pointing to the presence and/or the power of God being active and near.
So when Luke uses that very same word episkiazo in Acts 5: 15, he knows what connotations it will bring to the hearts and minds of his readers.
He wasn’t boasting in the power or presence of the apostle Peter, he was boasting in the ability of our living God to work in and through him to heal and draw the multitudes to new life in Christ Jesus.
Luke slips in these few verses between Ananias & Sapphira and the apostolic confrontation with the Sadducees to show that the apostolic ministry was inspired and empowered by the presence of God and not merely the might of men.
And so this is my prayer for myself, and for all who minister in the name of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ:
That we would be open and humble to His work in our lives, that we would at all times desire His presence to overshadow our own.
As preachers ask God to hide them behind the cross before they minister through the Word, my prayer is that each and every day I am hidden behind His overshadowing presence in my life, and that His strength magnifies my feeble attempts to serve Him.
May His glory be made ever-present and may it always overshadow all that we are and all that we do.
